Music of the Heart

Problem Scenario

I want to know how the heart rate is changed by different volumes of music.

Broad Question

What effects heart rate?

Specific Question

What is the effect of different volumes of music on heart rate?

Hypothesis

The louder the music is, the more your heart rate increases because the louder volume is more violent than the softer volume.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

Volume of Music

Dependent Variable:

Heart Rate
Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
Time Spent Listening to Music
Song Listened To
Resting Heart Rate

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Heart Rate- the number of time your heart beats in a unit of time, most often one minute.

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General Plan

In my experiment I am testing how the volume of music effected your heart rate. The experiment itself will start with me taking the test subjects resting heart rate. After this data is recorded, the test subject will start listening to the music. I will take their heart rate every thirty seconds for ninety seconds total.

Potential Problems And Solutions

In my experiment there are several problems. One is that the iPod app might not work. To fix this I would have to find an alternitive method for measuring heart rate. Another problem is that what might be consedered loud for most of my test subjects might not be loud for some others. I would have to solve this by making the loud volume louder. There might be kids that have higher or lower resting heart rates than others. To solve this I will avreage all of the scores to get my final outcome.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

none

Experimental Design

What is your experimental unit?

Five people's heart rate

Number Of Trials:

Five trials for each volume of music

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

There will be three different volumes of music.

Number of Observations:

I will take three measurements during each subject's time.

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
People	5	School	$0
iPod	1	Mykala	$0
iPod App	1	App Store	$0

Detailed Procedure

Supplies

• iPod
• 5 people

Procedure

1. Take your first test subject
2. Record their resting heart rate
3. Play them one volume of music
4. After 30 seconds, record their heart rate, but continue playing the music
5. After 60 seconds of listening to music record their heart rate, continuing to play the music
6. After 90 seconds of listening to music record their heart rate, but after this recording, stop the music.
7. Repeat with the rest of the test subjects
8. Repeat with the other volumes of music.

Photo List

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Time Line

• February 8

Soft Test

• February 9

Medium Test

• February 12

Loud Test

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Data Table

Time	Soft	Medium	Loud
0
30
75
120

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Subject #	Time	Soft	Medium	Loud
1	0	64	69	54
1	30	71	63	74
1	75	74	68	61
1	120	72	73	52
2	0	60	65	60
2	30	60	71	82
2	75	69	71	52
2	120	62	77	50
3	0	65	51	59
3	30	54	62	75
3	75	59	71	65
3	120	57	57	54
4	0	78	71	58
4	30	86	61	64
4	75	63	60	59
4	120	66	65	95
5	0	81	89	72
5	30	89	97	50
5	75	89	59	84
5	120	50	95	64

Graphs

Photos

Results

At the end of my experiment, I can't make any real claims. There is no discernible trend that the data follows. The heart rate for soft music goes up slightly, then down largely The heart rate for the medium volume music goes down then up again. The heart rate for the loud music goes up drastically then down again. Because of this inconsistency in the data, there is no real statement that I can make to sum up my results, except that there is no relationship between heart rate and the volume of music.

Conclusion

In my experiment I was testing what the relationship was between heart rate and the volume of music. My hypothesis was that the louder the music, the higher the heart rate would rise. However, my data states otherwise. Because my data was all scrambled, I can say that there is no relationship between the volume of music you listen to and your heart rate.

Discussion
For my experiment I was testing what the relationship was between the volume of music you listen to and your heart rate. After doing my project, I can now say that there is no relationship between the volume of music you listen to and your heart rate. There was no apparent relationship between my two variables, which could have been caused by many different things. There could be no relationship between the variables, and my conclusion is completely accurate, or the app that I used to take the heart rate, could have not worked very well. After looking at the data, I think that the app was not very accurate. However I don't believe that it was so inaccurate that it messed up my whole experiment. There were also several variables that I could not control that probably should have been controlled. One was that I couldn't any of the regular variable that effect your heart rate, such as stress, excitement, or physical activity. This could have also affected my experiment. If I were to do my experiment again, I would have chosen a more accurate app, and tried to regulate the other variables the best that I could. That would have made my experiment a lot more accurate, and have given me a more believable answer to my question.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

My research could benefit the community in several ways. Knowing that the volume of music has no effect on heart rate could be beneficial to many runners, so that they know that it will not make their heart rate go up any more than it usually does while running. This could also be helpful if you are working, or studying and listening to music, so that you can not worry about being stressed. Both of these things are ways that my experiment can help the community, and benefit peoples lives.

Background Research

Heart rate is a huge part of my experiment so it is essential that I know what heart rate is. According to dictionary.com, heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time, usually expressed beats per minute. Basically, this is just the number of times your heart beats in one minute. Heart rate is a great way to find how healthy you are. Resting heart rate is your heart rate when you are not doing anything, when your resting. The best time to take your resting heart rate is right after you get up. The lower you resting heart rate is, the healthier you are, because it shows how strong your heart is.

Your heart rate changes throughout the day. It can be affected by things such as stress, and even excitement. The less active you are through the day, the lower your heart rate will be, however it will never be as low as your resting heart rate when you get up. One thing that makes your heart rate go up drastically is exercise. Exercising, and physical activity put more strain on your heart making it beat faster. Some other things that change your heart rate are sickness, medication, and smoking. All of these things will change and affect your heart rate, some in a good way, and some in a bad way.

Another thing that would be good to know for my experiment is how sound travels. My experiment deals with different volumes of music, so I want to have a basic understanding of how different volumes of music travel. Sound traveles in waves. These waves are created by vibrations. An example is if you hit a drum, You are making it vibrate, there fore creating sound waves that travel to you. Different volumes of sound are created by more or less vibrations. If you hit your drum very hard, you are making it vibrate more, therefore creating a lower sound. If you hit the drum softly, you are creating less vibrations, therefore creating a softer sound. This is how different volumes of sound are created, and travel.

References

Nevins, Patricia. "What Affects Your Heart Rate?" LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., 21 Mar. 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2013.

Carroll, Denise. "Hearing Sound" vrml.k12.la.us/dcarroll/PowerPoint/.../Hearing%Sound.ppt. 19 Mar. 2013.

Abstract

In my experiment I was testing what the relationship was between the volume of music you listen to, and your heart rate. I thought that the louder the music was the higher your heart rate would be. For my experiment I took five test subjects and had them listen to three different volumes of music: soft, medium, and loud. Each test subject listened to the same song, to make sure it was the volume, not the song that was changing the heart rate. During each test of a different volume, I would take their heart rate at regular intervals in the music. Before I started I would take their heart rate to get their resting heart rate. When I finished my experiment, my data was very conclusive. There is no relationship between the volume of music you listen to and your heart rate. This means that weather you listen to eardrum crushing music, or music so soft you can't hear it in a library, you heart rate doesn't change because of it.